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The Grinding
The Grinding is a being located in the Alps that is bent on uniting the world under ambiguously defined perfection. Little is currently known about this deity. It does however seem to correlate with a large amorphous mass of metallic gears, cogs, flesh and sinew, which grows when given sacrifices. It gains worship through enacting constant fear in its followers. Domain The Grinding's domains have been unspecified as of yet. It does however seem to have an affinity towards anything clockwork, gears, cogs, manipulative music, control, and unification. Appearance The Grinding appears through the Grind-Mass, a constantly ticking and turning mess of gears, cogs, pulleys and other clockwork metal materials, the make of which is indiscernible but ornate, interwoven with organic flesh and tendrils of sinew. Although masses are stationary, smaller fragments called Grindlings are capable of moving with tentacles of muscle. History Nineteenth Turn The Grinding breached in a small village deep in the Alps where it appeared to an inventor that the being called The Victim of Flesh. It showed the villager that he would come across a piece of metal unlike any he had seen before and that it required sustenance. As well as this the man was inflicted with a continuous ticking noise in his mind. The Grinding managed to manifest itself as a Grind-Mass of gears, cogs, organic flesh and sinews that feeds on the mortals. Twentieth Turn The villagers give sacrifices at dawn or dusk or are punished with pain and a screeching cacophony of ticking. Grind Tools are created from some of the sacrifices and Grind-Horses from farmers stock. The first Singer is created from the corpse of the local chieftain Brennus's wife. These creations control the minds of people with their hypnotic song, even luring them as willing sacrifices into the Grinding. Four more are created. The villagers spread out to the nearby settlements, burying pieces of Grind-Mass which in turn attract Singers which soothe the locals into docility. Twenty-first Turn The Grind-Masses in the villages continue to grow and infrastructure in the settlements improve as Grind-Tools illuminate the roads and irrigate water. The Grind-Mother is created from two horses which are capable of breeding Grind-Horses. Around the Grind-Masses wooden structures and platforms are erected. Hundreds flee from the Grinding heading South, some of which unknowingly carry Grindlings of the mass. One fragment manages to hide inside a horse where it is transported to the city of Mediolanium in Northern Italia.. Relationships Followers The Grindings followers are all villagers of remote settlements within the Alps. The villagers sacrifice a variety of objects and living things (including themselves occasionally) to the Grind-Masses situated in the villages which the mass will then implement in itself to grow. If a villager does not give a sacrifice twice a day, at dawn and dusk they are subjected to terrible pain and an unbearable cacophony of screeching and crunching. In times of subsidence they feel a calming euphoric hum which makes them feel rejuvenated and content. In return the villagers are given Grind-Tools. Enemies The Grinding has dealt with numerous Defiants, villagers who attempt to fight the expansion of the Grind-Masses, by seeking them out with Grindlings and killing them with gruesome public displays. The Grinding has yet to encounter other deities. Personality The Grinding cannot speak by itself, but it can communicate its will through visions, it's creations, and by forcing pain onto its followers. It currently seems focused on attaining sacrifices, ranging from child play things to humans, as a means of growing in size physically. From its visions, and the messages from the First Singer, we can interpret that it seems bent on uniting the world under ambiguously defined perfection. The being seems terrifying, but we can only speculate what its true intentions are. However, it has recently been determined that the Grinding considers children the closest that humans can come to being perfect. From this it might be discernable that the Grinding considers Perfection the absence of perceived fault, both in mentality and in physical state. Miracles The Grinding manifests itself in the world as Grind-Masses which it can manipulate and grow when given sacrifices. Currently the Grinding has the ability to reshape human and animal sacrifices to suit its needs through these masses, often implementing metallic materials into these creations. The Singers are an example, directly under the Grinding's control, and can produce a song to manipulate the minds of humans. Other creations include the Grind-Tools and the Grind-Horses.